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Giovanni Paolo CIMA, Giovanni Antonio CANGIASI: Keyboard works

[I] Giovanni Paolo CIMA (1570 - 1622): "Ricercari & Canzoni alla francese"
Federico Del Sordo, harpsichord^a, organ^b
rec: July 2024, Brescia, Chiesa del Carmine^b; Sept 2024, Rome, Freezstudio^a
Brilliant Classics - 97220 (© 2025) (73'24")
Liner-notes: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
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Canzon X^b; Canzon XIII^b; Canzon La curta^a; Canzon La doppia^a; Canzon La gentile^b; Canzon La gratiosa^a; Canzon La gustosa^a; Canzon La morosa^a; Canzon La pace^a; Canzon La scabrosa^a; Canzon La trippola^a; Canzon La vaga^a; Canzon La valeria^b; Canzon di Andrea Cima La novella^a; Capriccio^a; Fantasia^b; Ricercar I^b; Ricercar II^b; Ricercar III^b; Ricercar IV^b; Ricercar V^b; Ricercar VI^b; Ricercar VII^b; Ricercar del 2º tono^b; Ricercar del 5º tono^b

[II] Giovanni Antonio CANGIASI (? - c1614): Scherzi forastieri
Federico Del Sordo, harpsichord^a, clavichord^b, organ^c
rec: Sept 2023, Trivento, Cattedrale dei Santi Nazario, Celso e Vittore^c; August 2024, Rome, Freezstudio^ab
Brilliant Classics - 96822 (© 2025) (76'34")
Liner-notes: E/IT
Cover, track-list & booklet
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L'Obbligata. Canzon I^c; La Consigliata. Canzon II^c; La Marina. Canzon III^a; La Marina. Canzon IV^a; La Stella. Canzon V^c; La Bussola. Canzon VI^c; La Grassa. Canzon VII^a; La Grassa. Canzon VIII^a; La Theorica. Canzon IX^c; La Guerra. Canzon X^c; La Capitania. Canzon XI^a; La Bassa. Canzon XII^a; La Torta. Canzon XIII^a; La Filippa. Canzon XIV^c; La Fiorina. Canzon XV^a; La Girometta. Canzon XVI^c; La Genovesa. Canzon XVII^c; La Alessandrina. Canzon XVIII^c; La Confrata. Canzon XIX^c; La Furugada. Canzon XX^a; La Pessa. Canzon XXI^b

This review focuses on recordings of keyboard music by two Italian composers who were contemporaries and were both connected to Milan, but whose stature in our time is very different. Giovanni Paolo Cima can be counted among the well-known composers of the early 17th century, whereas even many who have a special interest in early music may never have heard of Giovanni Antonio Cangiasi; I am one of them.

Cima was born and died in Milan. He was educated as an organist and from 1595 until his death he held the position of organist of S Maria presso S Celso. Simultaneously he acted, albeit unofficially, as maestro di cappella at this church from 1607 onward, with an interruption from 1611 to 1614. In 1599 he published his first opus, a collection of motets for four voices. These are written in the stile antico which would continue to play an important part in his oeuvre. However, his Concerti ecclesiastici of 1610, to which Daniela Dolci devoted a recording ("Vespro della Beata Vergine"), include a number of pieces in the modern monodic idiom. In his instrumental music Cima also moves on the brink of the old forms, such as the contrapuntal ricercare, and the modern sonata for a melody instrument and basso continuo. Cima is seldom the subject of a recording (Dolci's is an exception); pieces of his pen - and mostly those for instrumental ensemble - are often part of anthologies. His keyboard works seem to be largely neglected. I can't remember ever having heard them.

The collection Federico Del Sordo recorded, was Cima's second opus, published in 1606 in Milan, with the title Partito di ricercari, canzoni alla francese. It is dedicated to Caterina Assandra, a nun of noble birth from Pavia, who was also active as a composer. The title page includes a canon; Del Sordo suggests this may have served to emphasize the composer's skills in counterpoint.

The title page does not mention whether these pieces should be played on a keyboard instrument or by an instrumental ensemble. However, the keyboard seems to be at least the first choice, or the inspiration of Cima, who after all was an organist by profession. Under the title we find a specific reference to the keyboard, especially the indication that the edition closes with instructions on how to tune the keyboard. Del Sordo states: "The presence of the score (partito) – which allows all the parts to be seen simultaneously – indicates that solo performance represented at least one of several solutions. However, it is often the case that it was precisely this that ran into a series of objective difficulties, mainly due to the impossibility of playing all the keys required by the score with 'only' two hands and ten fingers. Many keyboard instruments of the time (first and foremost organs) had a number of pedals that allowed the lower notes of the musical texture to be played and thus free the left hand from awkward positions. Alternatively, [authors of treatises] such as Girolamo Diruta suggested moving inexecutable notes an octave higher or even changing them. The musical language employed by Cima (although printed in score form, with four distinct staves) denotes an explicit effort of adaptation to performance on a keyboard instrument; it consists of the frequent use of three (instead of four) parts and the general elimination of all those passages that would require the aid of the pedal for the lowest notes."

Most of the pieces consist of several subjects, called fughe at the time. Especially if one looks at the original printed edition with four staves, one immediately notes that each piece opens in fugal style, and also where another subject is introduced. The sections of a piece are mostly not formally separated but follow each other attacca. Whereas in the ricercares Cima often uses two themes, in the canzonas Cima often uses up to four subjects. They are generally more complicated than the ricercares. Also notable is the variety of metre (binary vs ternary), and such sections can be further subdivided.

Giovanni Antonio Cangiasi is an almost complete unknown quantity. As I already stated, I had never heard of him. Given that in his time so many outstanding keyboard players were active (also thanks to the many opportunities at courts, in churches and cathedrals), that is hardly surprising. Like in the case of Cima, we don't know the year of his birth, not even approximately. However, the fact that his first collection of music was published in 1590 (which is lost), suggests that he was probably one geneation older than Cima. He may have died much earlier, though.

It is often assumed (such as in New Grove) that he was born in Milan - again, like Cima. Federico Del Sordo, in his liner-notes, expresses reservations. In his publications he is referred to as mediolanensis (from Milan), but he belonged to the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, and "it is well known, that in the vocabulary of the Franciscan friars of that time, the indicated place-name often did not correspond to the actual place of birth, but rather to the place where religious vows were taken. Therefore, the identification of Cangiasi's hometown still orbits around an hypothesis that needs to be supported by more reliable evidence. (...) We know, however, for certain that Cangiasi lived between the present-day regions of Lombardy and Piedmont, working mainly as an organist: at the cathedral in Vercelli (1588-1591), at the church of S. Francesco in Milan, as recorded on the frontispiece of Il secondo libro libro di Canzonette a tre voci (1602), and, once he left Milan, in Castelnuovo Scrivia, at the 'Chiesa Maggiore', as specified in the printed edition of his Scherzi forastieri (a church probably to be identified with that of Ss. Peter and Paul)."

The quotation just given already mentions several of his printed editions of music. The canzonettas is his second opus, which has been preserved incomplete, like the next edition, a collection of three-part motets, and the fourth, a collection of psalms. That leaves two publications which can be performed: a collection of motets and the Scherzi forastieri; the latter are the subject of the second disc to be reviewed here.

The edition, published in Milan as his Op. 8 in 1614, is dedicated to "the very noble community of Castelnuovo di Scrivia" (in today's province of Piedmont). 'Community' may be used here in religious sense - a community of Franciscan friars. One of the pieces may also refer to it: La Confrata (Canzona XIX). Whereas Cima's ricercares and canzonas were printed as a score, this collection comes in two forms: a score and separate parts. The latter suggests a performance by an instrumental ensemble - not instead of keyboard, but as one of the options.

These canzonas are different in complexion. Some are in bipartite form, others include several subjects. One of the most remarkable pieces is La Bassa (Canzona XII), whose first half is dominated by chromaticism. It is not always clear what the titles refer to, but La Girometta is a variant of Girolmeta (as in Frescobaldi's Capricio sopra la Girolmeta). La Grassa (Canzon VIII) has a theme known as Balletto del Granduca. La Guerra (Canzon X) suggests a battle scene, but that is not the case.

Playing the pieces by Cima and Cangiasi on a keyboard is one thing, the choice of keyboard another. Basically there is no difference between pieces for organ or for strung keyboards (such as the harpsichord, the virginals or the clavichord). The choice of keyboard may be a matter of personal taste or dependent on what sounds best. Del Sordo plays both the organ and the harpsichord in these recordings. The last piece by Cangiasi, La Pessa (Canzon XXI) is played on the clavichord. The latter is a copy after Michael Praetorius, meaning that it is different from the clavichords from CPE Bach's time. The harpsichord in both recordings is the same instrument, a modern copy of 17th century models. A most welcome feature of the recordings of Italian keyboard music on Brilliant Classics - apart from the obscurity of much of the repertoire - is that we have the opportunity to get to know historical instruments, which are in the shadow of the well-known organs that are documented on discs (such as those in San Petronio, Bologna, and in Santa Barbara, Mantua). On the Cima disc Del Sordo plays an organ from 1630 in Brescia, on the Cangiasi disc an instrument from 1759. Stylistically the latter is not fundamentally different from the former; the builders, the D'Onofrio family, followed the models of the previous century. Both instruments are perfectly suited for the repertoire.

Federico Del Sordo has made quite a number of recordings for Brilliant Classics. Most of them have been reviewed here, and I have always been impressed by the qualities of playing and of the research on which each recording is founded. That is not any different here. Both recordings are important and musically rewarding additions to the catalogue. Each lover of early keyboard music and instruments will very much enjoy them.

Johan van Veen (© 2026)

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